To Tan Mink And Muskrat Skins
Category:
THE TRAPPER'S MISCELLANY.
Before tanning, the skin should always be thoroughly cleansed
in warm water, and all fat and superfluous flesh removed. It should
then be immersed in a solution made of the following ingredients:
Five gallons of cold soft water; five quarts wheat bran; one gill
of salt; and one ounce of sulphuric acid. Allow the skins to soak in
the liquid for four or five hours. If the hides have been previously
salted, the salt should be excluded from the mixed solution. The
skins are now ready for the tanning liquor, which is made in the
following way: into five gallons of warm, soft water, stir one peck
of wheat bran and allow the mixture to stand in a warm room until
fermentation takes place. Then add three pints of salt, and stir until
it is thoroughly dissolved. A pint of sulphuric acid should then be
poured in gradually, after which the liquor is ready. Immerse the
skins and allow them to soak for three or four hours. The process
of fleshing is then to be resorted to. This consists in laying the
skin, fur side down, over some smooth beam, and working over the
flesh side with a blunt fleshing tool. An old chopping knife, or
tin candlestick, forms an excellent substitute for the ordinary
fleshing knife, and the process of rubbing should be continued
until the skin becomes dry, after which it will be found to be
soft and pliable. The skin of the muskrat is quite tender, and the
fleshing should be carefully performed.
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Tanning Skins
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